


Proud

by watergator



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, Big Brothers, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Little Brothers, One Shot, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 19:23:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5940280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watergator/pseuds/watergator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A week after the destruction of the Earth, Leo and Mikey have a heart to heart.<br/>(one-shot)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Proud

Mikey felt the sweat drip down his forehead; he creased his brow in concentration, taking a split second to stop his whirling nunchucks to wipe his head with the back of his three fingered hand.  
He huffed, trying to regulate his breathing at he felt his arms burning, screaming for rest. But Mikey knew that he couldn’t rest. He had to train.  
Since arriving on the ship, about a week ago, Mikey knew that there was no funny business anymore. It was either train or die. The fate of the world, humanity, their father. It was all in their green three fingered hands. And the freckled turtled knew he had to up his game. Rest was for the weak. He couldn’t stop. 

His legs however protested when he did the millionth backflip this morning. He yelped in pain, gritting his teeth when what felt like electricity shoot up his left leg.  
The freckled turtle clutched his ankle and mentally cursed at himself for messing up his landing. He needed to be better. Stronger.  
He hoped his whine didn’t wake anyone up; they’d been asleep for the whole three hours that he’d been training. It had been like this for a few days now, Mikey had set his body clock to get early to get a few hours in of training before his daily sparring with his brothers for another hour. It was the perfect plan to better himself. And the best thing was that his no one had the slightest clue.  
The blue eyed teen attempted to stand back up, but he wobbled, his ankle burning in pain.  
He frowned in frustration. How was he supposed to save everyone when he couldn’t land a stupid flip without twisting his ankle?  
For the second time, Mikey attempted to stand back up, this time he fell over head first, his head colliding with the cold harsh floor with a sickening thud.  
Mikey grunted, he could feel anger boiling inside him and he wondered if this is what it felt like Raph, because if it did, he suddenly had a newfound respect for his red banded brother.  
Mikey managed to sit himself up into sitting position; his breaths were heavy and delayed. He never realised how tired he felt, every muscle in his body burning, as well as the growing headache and the searing pain in his ankle, which now looked a gross purple. Mikey huffed, before rolling his eyes, but he didn’t attempt to stand up again. He’d given up again, 

“Weak” Mikey muttered to himself.

Then another voice other than himself was heard in the training room, 

“Mikey?” A sleepy Leo said, rubbing his deep blue eyes with the heel of his hand, 

Mikey’s eyes went wide with panic, like a deer caught in the headlights. He couldn’t see his biggest brother so weak like this, he couldn’t be seen as a failure,

“What are you doing in here bro?” Leo asked, waking up a bit as he waked towards where his orange-clad brother sat, propped up against the metallic walls.

It wasn’t until Leo got closer to his youngest brother that he saw the sweat dripping from him, his green skin glistening in the light that the room was offering, although it wasn’t much. 

“Was doin’ nothin’” Mikey mumbled quietly, daring not to look his brother in the eyes, 

“Well I heard you yell and-“Leo paused, his eyes fell onto the purple swollen ankle, mouth hanging open slightly, 

“You’re gonna catch flies like that” Mikey spoke harshly,

Leo was taken aback slightly, quickly closing his mouth and blinking at his brother. It wasn’t his usual banter or jokes, he sounded, different. Angrier.  
Leo went to speak but was interrupted by a harsh tone,

“I’m fine Leo. Leave it” His tone was cold, almost as if this was someone completely different talking from his baby brothers body. But Leo protested, 

“You’re not fine Mikey, you’re hurt! He yelled, but there was sympathy and worry practically swimming in his gentle eyes.

Mikey simple grunted, obviously not wanted to speak.  
Leo went from his crouching position to sitting crossed leg, next to his brother, his shell leaning against the cool smooth metal walls.  
Mikey watched him for a second before looking away again, still gripping his ankle.

“Wanna tell me why you’re at some crazy ridiculous hour, training like a maniac?” Leo asked gently, 

“Just ‘cus” Mikey mumbled, shrugging his shoulders,

Leo sighed, trying to balance his patience, 

“That’s not really much of an answer Mikey” Leo smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder, but Mikey flinched, which was a sign for Leo to take his hand away.

“Get off my shell Leo, can’t I just train!” Mikey said, his voice a balance of tiredness but also frustration, something that Leo had never seen in his youngest brother before.

“Because you’re hurting yourself” Leo said, his tone of voice more sympathetic now,

That’s when Mikey spun his head around, his eyes meeting Leo’s. They weren’t his normal baby blue eyes that were so innocent and full of life, sparkling. They were a dull colour, almost lifeless; they had seen things, things that no child like Mikey should ever see in their short life. And that killed Leo inside, that his baby brother, the innocent one, the one who should be shielded from such horrors of the world, was so used to them now and Leo’s biggest fear that his happy go lucky brother would become corrupt from it. He always made a mental promise to himself to never let that happen to him. He simply loved his brother too much.  
Now Leo was looking into Mikey’s eyes he could see the rage.

“YOU THINK I WANNA BE WEAK?” Mikey yelled, taking Leo aback, 

“YOU DON’T THINK IM TRYING LEO?” Mikey yelled again, his voice wavering, almost as if it were on the edge of breaking completely, 

Leo could see the shining pools of tears that were threatening to spill that had formed in his brother’s eyes.

“Mikey” Leo said, his voice strong but sweet at the same time, it was a big brother thing, 

“You’re not weak” Leo said, taking Mikey’s hand in his own, squeezing it slightly, in some way of comfort,

Mikey sniffled, looking down at the ground, tears dripping freely from his eyes, he quickly swiped them away before letting of a huff of air he didn’t know he was holding in.

“Wanna tell me what this is about, huh?” Leo coxed, his voice spoke quietly and softly,

Leo could see the look in his brother’s face, the way he looked when he wanted to say something but he couldn’t figure out the words to do so, it was crazy to think that someone that talked non-stop most of the time, now was struggling to string one sentence together.  
Mikey looked at Leo, his eyes shining, full of glossy tears that he was trying so desperately not to let fall.  
Leo smiled warmly, a way of encouragement. He said no words, but Mikey knew it translated to, ‘take your time’.  
Mikey sucked in breath and let it out again, in an attempt to clear his mind that was currently racing with hundreds of thoughts at a million miles a minute.  
There was silence, apart from the constant low hum of the ships engine.  
Finally Mikey spoke up, his voice was quiet, 

“I wanted to make dad proud” He sounded like a child, his eyes dribbling with tears this time, his chest heaved as he supressed a sob but a small whimper escaped his lips as he looked back at the ground.

Leo felt numb. How could he have not seen this? That his brother was feeling like this? Leo quickly erased any thoughts about that, this was about Mikey, not him. He could beat himself about it later. Mikey sniffed, fat tears rolling over his freckled cheeks, dripping off his chin. He made a miserable attempt to wipe then but another sob erupted from his stomach this time, as more tears started to spill.  
Leo wrapped his arms around his brother, pulling him closely to his plastron, where Mikey’s breathing matched his own, soothing and calm. But his tears didn’t stop falling, the occasional cry, whimper and sniff told Leo that. Then after what felt years of just holding each other, Leo spoke up,

“He was always proud of you Mikey” He said, rubbing his hand in a circular motion on his brothers shell. He traced his fingers over the scratches, dents and small cracks and chips, a visible scar of previous battles, wins and failures. All of his brothers had the scars to prove what they had been through; they would come home and patch each other up, bruises to deep cuts. But Leo had never even considered the emotional scars that ran deep in his baby brother, the ones he couldn’t see all the time, the ones that were the easiest to cover up.  
Leo pulled his brother away as he gazed up into his eyes, Leo could see that they were raw and puffy. He cupped his brother face with his hand, tilting his head slightly, so that Mikey was looking him head on,

“You’re so brave Michelangelo, and father knew that. He was always proud of you. Okay?” He spoke gently, an audible whisper.

Mikey didn’t trust his voice just yet but he nodded, a wobbly smile formed on his face.  
Leo looked into his brothers eyes again. They were still slightly dull. Mikey would never forget the horrible things he had witnessed, those memories would stay with him forever, haunting him and Leo couldn’t change that. But he could try to make better memories for him. That dull tint in his brother’s eyes wouldn’t be consistent, but a part of it would always there.

After a while Leo felt Mikey go limp in his hold as he nuzzled affectionately into his plastron, a sign that he had given into a much needed sleep. Leo decided not to move, let him be. He smiled down at his sound brother who had lost his angry expression, slightly more relaxed now. Leo smiled to himself, a reminder of everything that had happened to them since the day they had left the sewers, all the fights, all the victories, all the falls and how his brother had been able to keep going not just physically but emotionally, he was their rock and always would be, it was just who he was, constantly trying to make other happy. Leo had never felt so proud.


End file.
